Edward kennard boothby



(No Model.)

B. K. BOOTHBY.

CAN OPENER.

Patented Apr. '15, 1890.

WITNESSES. W/QMZ ATTORNEYS.

UNITE STATES PATENT OFFICE.

EDWVARD KENNARD BOOTHBY, OF PORTLAND, MAINE, ASSIGNOR TO HIMSELF AND GEORGE W. CHASE, OF SAME PLACE.

CAN-OPENER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 425,739, dated April 15, 1890.

I Application filed December 12, 1889- Serial No. 333,387. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, EDWARD KENNARD BOOTHBY, of Portland, in the county of Cumberland and State of Maine, have invented a new and useful Can-Opener, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

My invention relates to an improvement in a class of can-openers in which a blade is employed to cut the lid of the can near its marginal edge, and has for its object to provide a simple, cheap, and practical implement which, when used, will speedily cut the head of a sheet-metal can nearly free from the side wall of the same, producing a lid that is slightly joined to the can, and that can be readily removed to afford access to the contents.

To these ends my invention consists in certain features of construction and combination of parts, as herein set forth, and indicated in the claim.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, in which similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in all the figures.

Figure 1 is a top plan view of a can with the implement in operative position thereon, the can-top being shown partially cut loose by the tool. Fig. 2 is a side view of the canopener; and Fig. 3 represents the upper portion of .a can-body in vertical section with the can-opener applied to the lid, which is partly cut loose, the section being taken on the broken line 3 3 3 in Fig. 1.

The can-opener is constructed with two limbs A B, which are provided with handles A B, and are pivoted together near their extremities at a, as most clearly shown in Fig. 1. There is an offset bend produced at b on the limb A that affords a depending portion b which in turn is outwardly bent at c, the outwardly-projecting end of the limb engaging the handle A, as shown in Fig. 3. The length of the limb port-ion 19' between the pivot a and bend b on limb A should be proportioned to the diameter of the cans to be operated upon, so that when the device is applied, as shown in Fig. 3, the pivot a will be near the center of the lid and the limb portion I) represent the radius of the circular can-top d. At a suitable distancefrom the pivot-center a two laterally-extended fingers e are formed on the limb A. 7 These are bent downwardly at 6, thus producing lockingtangs e of equal length, which are rounded in the body and pointed to adapt them to be readily inserted in the thin sheet metal of the can-top. The distance from the pivot to to the fangs e is such relatively that these may beinserted in the can-top (Z near its peripheral edge. The other limb B of the can-opener is straight and has a curved blade f inserted in it, so as to project downwardlyfrom its lower surface at such a distance from the pivot a as will locate the cutting-blade near the circular edge of the can-top d.

When the can-opener is to be put into use, the pointed ends of the depending tangs e are inserted through the can-top near the vertical wall of the can, as shown in Figs. 1 and 3, the two limbs A B being folded, so that the cutting-blade f may be inserted in the can-top at 9 when the tangs e are forced through the same. The operator now grasps the handles A B, and while the first-named is held firmly upon the can the limb B and. its handle are caused to rotate on the pivot a, which movement may be continued until the point h is reached, thus cutting a circular channel through the can-top from g to h, when the tool may be removed, and the lid, which is retained in contact with the can by the uncut portion below the limb A, may be upwardly folded and the contents of the can exposed.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

In a'can-opener, the combination, with two limbs pivoted together at adjacent ends and handles for their free ends, of two oppositelylocated locking-tangs affixed to one limb at a suitable distance from the pivoted ends, and a depending curved cutting-blade secured to the other limb, substantially as set forth.

EDWARD KENNARD BOO'IHBY.

\Vitnesses:

FREDERICK Fox, CHARLES H. SANDS. 

